Height and Weight of Japanese Children Before and After World War II

Japan's coal industry was almost paralyzed. The result was a serious crisis in the water and rail transport industries due to the lack of coal. In addition, the rice crop in 1944 and 1945 was the worst in 40 years. These factors made people's lives extremely miserable. It is estimated that the daily food ration of each Japanese person was only about

1,000 calories, which is too low, just enough for survival.[33, p.44] Malnutrition is evident on the faces of people on the streets. The risk of famine can occur in many places. The physical strength of the Japanese people has seriously declined. In addition, the severe food shortage lasted until 1947 and its effects can be seen in the poor physical strength of Japanese children during this period compared to the period before and after. Table 1.4 shows us the results of a survey on the height and weight of Japanese children before and after World War II.

Table 1.4 : Height and weight of Japanese children before and after World War II

Year

Height (cm)		Weight (kg)
Age 6	Age 12	Age 6	Age 12
1930	108.1	137.1	17.9	38.1
1940	109.7	142.0	18.47	35.3
1946	107.4	37.5	17.8	31.5
1950	108.6	136.0	18.5	31.5
1960	117.7	141.9	19.1	34.6

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Source: According to a survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Education. This table is taken from Takafusa Nakamura (ed.), Nihon Kiazai-shi, vol. 7 (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1989). [ 19, p. 182]

Along with widespread unemployment, severe shortages of energy and food, inflation was the next major problem that emerged at this time. During the war, the budget deficit accumulated due to cash, government bonds and central government debts that reached more than 200%. It can be said that the cause of inflation was, first of all , due to the imbalance between supply and demand. The supply of goods was severely cut after the war, but on the contrary, the demand for consumption increased sharply due to the increase in the domestic population. The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan had to release government bonds into the market to ease the panic of the people in the face of the situation of the Allied forces increasing bombing in the final stages of the war. When the war ended, despite all the shortages, the government still had to increase military expenses such as demobilization benefits for veterans and had to compensate the military industry in cash for canceled contracts. Due to these expenses, the Bank of Japan's paper balance increased by 5% in August 1945 alone. As a result, inflation broke out immediately. In addition, rumors of currency exchange, property tax, etc. further panicked the people, who rushed to buy goods. All the government's emergency measures to combat inflation: calling on people to deposit savings, ordering the issuance of new money, implementing the conversion of new Yen and allowing each family to withdraw 500 Yen per month to live, collecting property tax, etc. could not stop inflation. The above situation caused a loss of confidence in the government, leading to a state of near anarchy. In 1946, the wholesale price index increased by nearly 300% and continued to increase by more than 100% in the following years. From 1945 to 1950, the wholesale price index increased by 7000% (70 times), causing

The gap between official and black market prices has almost been erased. This situation can be seen in the figures in Table 1.5 below:

Table 1.5 : Postwar inflation leads to an increase in the wholesale price index.

Year

Wholesale price index (%)	Difference between black market price and official price (times)
1945	100
1946	464	7.2
1947	1,375	5.3
1948	1,651	2.9
1949	5,961	1.7
1950	7,045	1.2

Source: Ministry of Finance, 1978. [19, p. 149]

Inflation depreciates money and destabilizes the economy and society. Along with inflation, social evils also increase. To deal with the above situation, in February 1946, the Government adopted many emergency financial measures to prevent inflation. The Economic Stabilization Board was established in August 1946, initially to solve the problem of inflation by controlling prices and providing goods in rationed quantities. However, the Economic Stabilization Board soon began to implement the Priority Production System, directing limited resources to specific basic industries such as coal mining and the iron and steel industry. In particular, the Economic Stabilization Board first allocated resources to the industrial sector.

coal, as coal production increased, it was redistributed to the iron and steel industry. Finally, increased steel production was redistributed back to coal mining to further increase that industry's output. By using Japan's limited resources to create this virtuous cycle, the Economic Stabilization Board hoped to reduce inflation as well as increase Japan's economic independence.

In addition to the heavy economic damage, Japan was also required to pay war reparations by the Allies. Table 1.6 shows us the amounts of money that the Allies demanded from Japan.

Table 1.6 : Amounts that Japan had to pay as requested by the Allies (Unit: million yen, 1939 price)

Report

Industrial vehicles	Military vehicles	Total
Pauley	990	1,476	2,466
Strike	172	1,476	1,618
Johnstone (Draper)	102	560	662

The Pauley Report was finalized in January 1946, the Strike Report was presented in March 1948,

Johnstone (or Drapper) Report of April 1948. [44, p.62]

Although the level of compensation was later reduced due to Japan's increasing role in America's global strategic position in the context of the

The international and regional situation has changed. However, these reparations have also caused many difficulties for Japan (which was in a state of extreme poverty) in its post-war economic recovery.

In fact, many domestic and foreign observers who are familiar with the situation in Japan are extremely pessimistic about the economic recovery in Japan. They believe that the economic recovery in Japan will have to take place over a very long period of time.

1.3. The need to restore normalcy to society and the economy

As we have seen, Japan prepared to enter World War II with a highly militarized economy (not a free competitive market economy), taking war (not the market and civilian consumers) as its object of service and operating according to the laws of war, according to the aggressive goals of the Japanese militarists, not according to the laws of the market, the laws of free competition. At that time, Japanese society was a wartime society, all the needs (both material and spiritual) of the people were not taken care of, but were sacrificed and strictly controlled or suppressed. In other words, it was an abnormal economy and society, completely unsuitable for the post-war peace context. At the same time, as presented and analyzed above, the post-war Japanese economy was also an economy that was devastated to the point of exhaustion, pushed back many years, while still being surrounded and lacking in all aspects. That is, in terms of circumstances and conditions, this was also an abnormal economy, operating in a very abnormal condition. Meanwhile, almost all Japanese people were starving and extremely pessimistic about the future of the country and themselves. Japan could not develop with a

society, an economy, in such an abnormal condition and mentality. More than anyone else, the Japanese at that time understood very clearly that there was no other way to restore and develop their economy and country other than to re-establish the normal state of society and economy. Moreover, with such an abnormal economy, or if it returned to a highly militarized economy like in wartime, Japan would not be able to attract the consensus and support of the people and would not be able to mobilize all resources from the people to restore and develop the economy. And the only way to do that is to have fundamental reforms in the economic, social and political fields, in which economic reform is an important part, if not the most decisive, to restore the normal state of society and economy, in which human rights are respected, all legitimate interests of individuals are taken into account, a peaceful and democratic society, a market economy based on fair competition and mutual benefit.

1.4. The occupation and direction of the Allies, first of all

America

On the role of the United States in the process of economic reform, recovery and development

Japan's post-war economy, up to now, although there are still different views, there is one point of agreement that is very important and indispensable. The presentation of students' opinions on this role of the United States will be mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 3, but here I would like to make one comment: the occupation and policies of the United States towards Japan in the post-war period were also one of the extremely important conditions that put pressure on, encouraged, promoted Japan to reform and influenced the reform process of Japan. Many opinions believe that without the Allied Occupation Forces, mainly the United States, there would be no socio-economic reform in Japan.

after the war, or those reforms might have been different, and so it is unknown where the situation and post-war Japan will go.

Thus, the above conditions and contexts in post-war Japan led to the Japanese government (or the dual government in Japan) having to carry out fundamental economic, social and political reforms, especially economic reforms, in order to transform Japan's abnormal society and economy during and immediately after World War II into a normal society and economy. That would be a peaceful, democratic society where human rights are respected, that would be a market economy, operating according to the law of free competition, taking the civil needs of consumers as the object of service.

Chapter 2

SOME BASIC SOCIO-ECONOMIC REFORMS OF JAPAN AFTER THE WAR

After the Second World War, Japan was defeated, had to surrender unconditionally to the Allies, and fell into the most chaotic period in Japanese history. During this period, the Japanese people suffered from shortages of food and daily necessities, along with cramped, uncomfortable housing, illness, malnutrition, high unemployment, and soaring inflation. The Japanese economy was not only exhausted in desolation and ruin, the people's strength was destroyed, but the national spirit was also severely depressed. The country was exhausted both materially and spiritually.

Faced with this situation, the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces, mainly the US military forces, occupied Japan and outlined basic policies that greatly influenced the direction of Japan's economic development. During this time, a dual government was actually formed in Japan * . On September 6, 1945, the US sent General Douglas MacArthur, who held the position of Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces (General

Headquater of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), the first official document on policies related to the governance of Japan. On September 10, 1945, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers officially announced these policies. This was a policy of implementing “demilitarization

* The government of the occupying forces, headed by General Douglas MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, and the Japanese provisional government were established immediately after Japan's surrender, serving as the second government after the government of the occupying forces.

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